Career Advice for My Sons, Part 3:? Accountability

Thank you for joining me for part three of a four-part series on the characteristics of excellent team members as I cap off a summer sabbatical.? My motivation has been to share advice for my sons who are nearing their time to enter the workforce. I’m drawing?from years of interviewing and managing others, and from both good and bad choices I have made along the way, in hopes the generation you and I influence will achieve greater joy and meaning in their work, their teams, and the culture they create.?

?Harsh Lessons

?This third installment is about accountability.? I once found myself in a position to coach a young business partner who had done something foolish. He’d gotten over his skis by making impossible commitments, but rather than come clean and apologize he tried to hide. Literally, he snuck away during a trade show and locked himself in his hotel room.? His customers and partners felt their trust was betrayed (myself included). I offered to meet up in the evening and as he sulked over his beer in the hotel bar, I heard myself giving this advice:

1. Say what you are going to do
2. Do what you say you are going to do
3. Repeat
4. Then hold others to the same standard

This fellow was facing his first test of leadership, but he was afraid of the rejection that might come from having to say, “no, I’m sorry I don’t have the capacity to do that now, can we work together on a different timeline?” Instead, he felt pressured to be the hero who promised everything, but in the end he delivered nothing and his reputation was tarnished. A harsh lesson to learn early in his career.?

To this day the advice I gave him still makes sense to me. We all want to be seen and spoken of as reliable, worth hiring, promoting, or buying from.? And yet how many of us are willing to make the sacrifices required of delivering consistently on promises when there is no immediate benefit to our own comfort or status?? It requires knowing what you truly value.?

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Do you value how you are perceived, regardless of what you actually produce??

Or do you value what you produce, regardless of how you are perceived??

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The former has to do with what I’d call a false identity, a sham veneer intended to look good from a distance, but cheap and flimsy up close. Like a Hollywood move set. The later—a concern with producing something for others—represents a sturdy and reliable partner, one I’d stick my neck out for.

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Mutual Accountability

?Effective accountability involves holding others to the same standard as well:? co-workers, managers, partners, even customers.? One-way accountability does not make for a sustainable relationship.? When expectations are mutual and met consistently, it creates an atmosphere of trust and authenticity and opens the door for a great working relationship. ?For this reason, salespeople employ close plans with their customers, and employees should not be shy about requesting 360 feedback with their management.

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I once managed a team that oversaw a series of partnership verticals with high revenue goals and lofty objectives.?These things don’t happen by accident and usually not quickly. Effective execution required incremental gains on a weekly basis driven by a plan.? So I would take time during our Monday morning staff calls for us to identify a series of achievable milestones for selected partnerships by the end of the week.? I would say, for instance, “5:00 Friday will not happen for me until these three things are achieved…”. In that way, I’d make myself accountable to each team member to help with a set of tactics necessary for meeting our team’s revenue goals. But this also earned me the right to expect the same level of effort and commitment from them. Not because I was their manager, but because I had committed myself to delivering on their behalf. A reciprocal relationship is respectful, and respect is motivating.

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For the previous article in this series I wrote about Ownership , and looking back there is an important component of mutual accountability I could have mentioned.?If you’re going to devote a portion of your life to a business by investing in the attitude and behavior of ownership, you have every right to request a reciprocal investment in you. Mutual accountability includes asking for what you are worth, including respect and recognition. And requesting mutual accountability helps ensure the longevity of the business. Ultimately it does a business no good if a devoted and esteemed colleague burns out and leaves after feeling and under-appreciated.

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Accountability is Referable

In Tim Redmond’s book, The Power to Create , he makes a statement that for me summarizes why accountability is so important:?

?How you do anything is how you do everything (Redmond, 168).

Accountability is like a personal brand. It is a billboard to the world on whether you can be trusted with both little and big things, because ultimately the results for both little and big things are driven by the same attitude and values.

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Tim also relays a quality he calls being “contagiously referable,” and ties it to the economic benefits of relationships built on trust:

Some of the research I’ve discovered on prolonged prosperity is amazing. ?Prolonged prosperity on a national, macroeconomic basis is primarily built on character, because character is the basis for credibility and trust.? The more trust there is between individuals, the more business they are going to transact and the lower the costs of those transactions will be. ?(Redmond, 176)

Can a lifestyle of accountability save your business money and drive increased revenue?? Tim Redmond says his research demonstrates this.

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That is reason enough to value accountability, but if I’m honest, there’s something more motivating for me.? I just enjoy the company of accountable people so much more than flakes.? People who are reliable, who show up on time, finish what they start, deliver without drama, treat others with respect, and respect themselves as well. ?Our careers take up a significant portion of our lives, and given the choice, I think we’d all rather enjoy the people we spend life with.

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Thanks for reading!? Next Installment:? Career Advice for My Sons, Part 4:? Urgency